Columbus Blue Jackets vs Philadelphia Flyers Prediction: The Jackets have nothing to lose

Prediction for the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets vs Philadelphia Flyers match which will take place on April 7th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

The current regular season has been highly unsuccessful for Columbus. The Jackets have a very young and inexperienced roster that has learned a lot over the year but, as expected, failed to compete for Cup spots. Injuries to several players exacerbated the situation. Elvis Merzlikin, Daniil Tarasov, Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean, Sean Kuraly, Egor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, and Adam Fantilli remain in the infirmary. Such global personnel losses inevitably affect the results of a team that has suffered ten defeats in its last 13 meetings, beating San Jose 4:2, Pittsburgh 4:3, and Colorado 4:1. That's not enough to climb out of last place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Philadelphia failed all the last seasons and remained without Cup battles for a long time, but in the current regular season, the Pennsylvanians made progress and were almost always in the Cup Eight. Now, at the finish line, they are in a crisis that they had been unable to overcome. In their last six games, John Tortorella's wards lost 4:1 to Florida, 5:6 to the Rangers, 4:1 to Montreal, 5:1 to Chicago, 4:3 to the Islanders, and 4:2 to Buffalo. It's unacceptable to drop so many points at such a crucial time of the season, and that's why the Flyers have already slipped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, with three chasers hot on their heels.

Philadelphia is in the race for the final playoff spot. Not long ago, the Flyers were looking very favorable, but then they went on a six-game losing streak, and now they have a good chance of making the playoffs. They have five games left in the regular season, and there will be no easier opponent than Columbus. The Jackets have long since lost their tournament motivation, are in last place in the Eastern Conference, and have lost four of their previous five meetings.

Columbus and Philadelphia are not among the league's most productive or entertaining teams, but the rivals are almost always up-tempo, open, and full of scoring chances. In the seven previous meetings, they have scored for 49 pucks (7.00 average per game), a very high rate by NHL standards. The Jackets have nothing to lose. They can play without looking at their own goal, while the Flyers need to improve their offense to make the playoffs.